U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,556 to Evans et al. discloses a heat-recoverable sleeve having voids in one transverse edge thereof to prevent buckling of the material of the sleeve that has along the edge been treated to reduce the recoverability thereof and which is exposed on the exterior of a closure formed with the sleeve.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,824 to Holmes et al. discloses a dimensionally-recoverable sheet wherein one of the transverse edges is profiled with repeating structural units. The dimensionally-recoverable sheet is wrapped about a substrate in a manner such that the profiled edge underlies an overlapped portion of the same sheet. When the dimensionally recoverable sheet is caused to recover, the profiled edge causes a breakup in a leak path in a hot-melt adhesive applied to the interior side of the overlapping flap of recoverable material. The breakup of the leak path provides more secure closure because a breach in the hot-melt adhesive at either end of the seam will not break the seal all along a discontinuous leak path as it would along a continuous leak path.
While the formation of a discontinuous leak path is advantageous, an overall minimization of the void spaces in the hot-melt adhesive caused by the contraction of the dimensionally recoverable sheet is desirable.